British Grand Prix: Silverstone at 60

Tomorrow’s British Grand Prix is the 42nd F1 world championship race to be
held at Silverstone, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. Simon
Arron presents a collection of 60 facts and figures about the iconic
Northamptonshire venue.

2. The runways and perimeter roads were subsequently adapted for racing and the first meeting, the RAC British Grand Prix, took place on October 2 1948. Winner Luigi Villoresi averaged 72.27mph in his Maserati 4CLT/48.

3. During the early years, spectators were barred from the circuit's infield for fear they might damage the local farmer's crops.

4. During the 1949 GP, Murray Walker made his BBC commentary debut from a tiny shack at Stowe Corner.

5. Silverstone hosted the inaugural round of the F1 world championship on May 13 1950. Giuseppe Farina (Alfa Romeo 158) won at an average 90.95mph.

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6. In 1951, the circuit lease passed from the RAC to the British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC).

7. The 750 Motor Club's six-hour relay was interrupted by a cloudburst in 1953: conditions were so poor that AH Baker led the race for a while - in a Land Rover.

8. In 1955 the circuit stopped marking corners with oil drums and replaced them with low stone walls.

9. Peter Collins took his Ferrari 246 to victory in the 1958 British GP - the last Silverstone F1 success for a front-engined car.

10. During the 1960 GP meeting, drivers were asked to put on a demonstration in a field of new Minis. They set off in reverse, then proceeded to treat the occasion as an excuse for a demolition derby.

11. In the 1963 GP, Jim Clark headed John Surtees and Graham Hill in an all-British one-two-three.

12. The aforementioned three drivers repeated the feat when the British GP returned to Silverstone two years later. Clark won again, from Hill and Surtees. They'd finished in that order in the 1964 GP at Brands Hatch, too.

13. Clark and Alain Prost share the record - five - for British GP victories. The Frenchman achieved all his wins at Silverstone.

15. On August 30 1965, Chris Summers (Lotus 24-Chevrolet) became the first driver to lap Silverstone's original Club Circuit in less than one minute.

16. Early in 1970, future FIA president Max Mosley was one of four drivers to hold a part-share of the Silverstone Club Circuit lap record (57.0sec, 101.56mph).

17. Unofficially motor racing's unluckiest driver, Chris Amon (March 701) scored his first F1 win at Silverstone in the 1970 International Trophy. In 96 world championship GP starts, he came close to winning several times but never succeeded.

18. In 1971, a general admission ticket to the British GP cost £1.20. This year, a three-day weekend pass (long sold out) costs £99.

19. Also in 1971, the BRDC became landowner rather than leaseholder; it bought Silverstone from the Ministry of Defence.

20. A prize-money dispute threatened the 1973 British GP and only 10 cars were entered when the deadline passed. Representing the teams, Bernie Ecclestone eventually brokered a deal.

21. When the 1973 race took place, a first-lap accident at Woodcote Corner - triggered by Jody Scheckter's spinning McLaren - accounted for 10 cars; it was, at the time, the biggest multiple pile-up in F1 history.

22. On the British GP's return in 1975, Woodcote had been reprofiled with a right-left-right chicane.

23. The 1975 GP ended as chaotically as Silverstone's previous one had begun. A hail shower caused an early stoppage and Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren M23) was declared the winner.

24. Stirling Moss made a surprise appearance at the wheel of a 7.0 Jaguar XJ8 special saloon during a Silverstone test session in October 1975. He had accepted an invitation to try the car after meeting owner Tony Hazelwood at a charity lawnmower race. As you do.

25. Jaguar introduced its fast but frail XJ Coupé in the Silverstone Tourist Trophy, a round of the European Touring Car Championship, on September 19 1976. It qualified on pole and led, but retired when a wheel fell off.

27. On October 2 1977, 24-year-old Nigel Mansell needed to win - and set fastest race lap - to secure the Brush Fusegear Formula Ford 1600 title at Silverstone. He did.

28. World championship motorcycle racing came to the British mainland - and, specifically, Silverstone - for the first time in August 1977. Previously, it had been the Isle of Man's exclusive preserve.

29. On March 19 1978, Keke Rosberg (Theodore TR1) scored his first F1 win in the International Trophy, Silverstone's last non-championship F1 event.

30. In 1978, Silverstone staged its maiden Kart GP and its first and only race for the US-based IndyCar series.

31. Clay Regazzoni scored Williams's first F1 victory in the 1979 GP at Silverstone. The team has won another 112 since.

32. The summer of 1979 was enlivened by a memorable lead battle in motorcycling's 500cc British GP. Barry Sheene flicked a cheeky V-sign at American rival Kenny Roberts as they tore down Hangar Straight, but Roberts eventually won.

33. Alain de Cadenet and Desiré Wilson (de Cadenet-Cosworth) scored a win against the odds in the 1980 Silverstone Six Hours. They had to overcome a one-lap penalty, imposed when Wilson bypassed the Woodcote chicane. She made amends during her final stint by recovering the deficit.

34. Turbo cars had the edge in the 1981 GP, but their fragility paved the way for John Watson (McLaren MP4/1) to score a memorable home victory - the first for a carbon-fibre F1 chassis.

35. Stefan Bellof scooped the International Trophy on March 21 1982 - and made history as the first driver to win on his European F2 Championship debut.

36. Bellof's pole position time for the 1983 Silverstone 1,000km would have put him halfway up that season's British GP grid. He was driving a Porsche 956.

37. On March 6 1983, Ayrton Senna dominated the opening round of the British F3 Championship at Silverstone - the first of nine straight victories. His winning streak ended in June, when Martin Brundle triumphed at Silverstone.

38. Keke Rosberg (Williams FW10-Honda) averaged 160.938mph en route to pole position for the 1985 British GP, which made Silverstone the world's fastest GP circuit at that time.

39. Rosberg achieved the above despite a slow puncture.

40. On May 24 1986, it was announced that the British GP would no longer alternate between Brands Hatch and Silverstone. From 1987 the race would take place solely at Silverstone, an arrangement that has continued ever since.

47. Nigel Mansell's victory in the 1992 GP prompted the crowd to invade the track while some drivers were still racing. After taking the flag, Mansell mowed down one spectator, without injury, and eventually had to climb from his car in the midst of a braying mob.

48. In 1993, Silverstone signed a deal that enabled it to retain the British GP until at least 2001.

49. As motorsport came to terms with the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna during the 1994 San Marino GP, Silverstone implemented a number of safety-related changes to several corners.

50. Graham Hill never won the British GP, but his son Damon added the trophy to the family's collection in 1994.

51. To facilitate his entry and departure from Silverstone, Hill Jnr used to ride incognito wearing a plain white motorcycle helmet. It worked every time.

52. In June 1995, Silverstone hosted two meetings on the same day: the Vintage Sports Car Club used the National track while the BRDC simultaneously organised eight races on the new Stowe Circuit.

53. Jacques Villeneuve's victory in the 1997 GP was the Williams team's 100th in the world championship.

54. When Michael Schumacher crashed and broke a leg on the opening lap of the 1999 GP, the race had already been red-flagged, but the German didn't know.

55. British drivers have won their home GP 20 times (more often than any other nation). Of those victories, 15 were scored at Silverstone.

56. If Lewis Hamilton wins tomorrow's GP, he will become the 12th British driver to win his home race.